25 Jun 2019

Fiji facing milk shortage

5:51 pm on 25 June 2019

Fiji is facing a major milk shortage after an outbreak of cattle disease.

FBC News reported half of Fiji's cattle herd had been removed from farms because of the spread of brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis.

Kushmendra Prasad of the Fiji Cooperative Dairy Company said production had fallen from nine million to just over five million litres.

Other factors may be contributing to the decline but disease is the biggest, he said.

Production of fresh milk has been declining for about seven years and the recent outbreak has resulted in increased costs to farmers, Mr Prasad said.